New Study: A Healthy Plant-Based Diet Can Cut Type 2 Diabetes Risk by a Third

A new study from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health found that a healthy plant-based diet significantly lowers the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Study authors commented that “existing studies suggest a lower incidence of type 2 diabetes in people reporting a diet rich in fruit, vegetables and whole grains, and a higher incidence in those reporting consumption of red and processed meat,” but they wanted to go further by providing more clarification and detail on the types of foods associated with the risk of type 2 diabetes.

Even a modest reduction in animal-based foods (from 5-6 servings to 4 servings per day) was associated with a lower risk of type 2 diabetes.

“This study highlights that even moderate dietary changes in the direction of a healthful plant-based diet can play a significant role in the prevention of type 2 diabetes,” said lead study author Ambika Satija, a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Nutrition.

Conclusions

Senior study author Professor Frank Hu, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard Chan School said: “A shift to a dietary pattern higher in healthful plant based foods such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, legumes, nuts, and seeds, and lower in animal based foods, especially red and processed meats, can confer substantial health benefits in reducing risk of type 2 diabetes.”

As to how a healthy plant-based diet could lower the risk of type 2 diabetes, study authors noted that such a diet would be rich with beneficial dietary fiber, antioxidants, and micronutrients, and low in saturated fat.

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about the author

Naomi Imatome-Yun

Naomi Imatome-Yun is editor-at-large and former managing editor of Forks Over Knives. She has been a food, health, and wellness editor for over 15 years, and her work appears in USA Today, Dining Out, and Art Culinaire. Naomi is a Wall Street Journal bestselling author, and was a food expert for About.com for 8 years.